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Hits at PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week 2013

PFDC LO’real Paris Bridal Week was a decadent affair, all the heavily embellished joras, the jewelry and what not. If you are backstage you can actually see the hangers bending under the weight of these heavy ensembles. Just the name Bridal evokes a feeling of long preparations and pressure. In this post I will be highlighting the good, there will be another one on the bad ones and a separate one on menswear.

Sadly there was little or no innovation by most designers, good to see HSY‘s foray into colors other than yawn inducing bronze gold and black.His collection paid tribute to leading women. Silhouettes were relatively safe relying more on how the dupatas and palus of sarees are draped. Really liked the dull coral and sandstone colors. It was good to see red paired with corals for a change.

Honestly I hadn’t heard of Deena Rehman before this, her collection titled ‘Old World Memories and other Inherited Objects’ was safe and demure. The black sleeveless piece on Neha was really beautiful and versatile depending on what you pair it with. Her rose gold sari and a white sari had tasteful bits of embroideries probably catering to a more mature taste palette.

Elan exhibited their collection called ‘The Sultanate‘ which tried to emulate the pomp and pageantry of traditional eastern royalty. I loved the fact that they also had a sombre color palette of greys and whites with bursts of colors as accents. Their use of nets and laces was kind of groundbreaking where everybody uses thick jacquard silks. Use of flowers instead of jewelry also a plus.2 of my favs feature traditional bridals and third one I applaud for its contemporary aesthetic.

It was the first time that the marketing maven brand Sania Maskatiya exhibited at PLBW. ‘Tilism‘ apparently draws its inspiration for East Asian designs. I was particularly happy that they didn’t give in to sheeny shiny golden feel of traditional bridal designs and stayed true to theirs. The purple red ensemble on Cybill, the peacock motif embroidered shirt on Nadia Hussain, and the poncho tunic on Faeza Ansari were modern yet exquisite.

Sadaf Malaterre was a surprise, I didn’t know she could even understand bridals let alone do them, as she has a very minimalist design aesthetic. Her collection inspired by butterflies had the same lightness the name evokes. As I thought I realised that the bride needs joras for her dholki or maiyoon etc. I just loved the poppy red full lehenga with purple front tied top, the golden brown saari on Nadia Ali, and the shimmery gold sleeveless shirt with flowy nude pants on Fouzia. These are the pieces that are ready to be worn and can suit a wide range of people depending upon how they style them.

Fahad Hussayn with his ‘Great Mutiny‘ collection presented a lot of options ranging from regal safe to highly whimsical. The highlight for me was the jewelry and dots on forehead. The color pallete was muted with off white, beige, sandstone, midnight blue and a bit of coral.My favourites were the whites (haters might disagree but I can totally picture someone on their ubtan wearing these)On a serious note the ensemble with mauve jacket worn by Abeer is commercially viable and yet very contemporary bridal.

Misha Lakhani who I think is the “queen of sheer fabrics” showcased her ‘Bohemian Heiress‘collection inspired by her journey through Ottoman Turkey. Intricate embellishments on sheer textiles are her unique selling proposition. My favourite one was the flared kameez/pajama ensemble on Abeer (the design motifs are gorgeous). The other two favourites were the pieces on Amna Ilyas, and Rabia Butt.

Nomi Ansari who is infamous for his use of color was favourite of “fashion press” and was presumably catering to more youthful taste palette with his latest collection titled ‘Rang Mahal‘. It composed of a lot of prints, embellishments and use of different textiles. The two pieces which appealed to me were green shirt paired with grapefruit pink sharara worn by Noorey Bhattiand the gold flared shirt with purples sleeves worn over a roomy pajama. I think if his collection is watered down a bit, it can certainly come out very wearable.

Another critic favourite Kamiar Rokni made a comeback with his Orientalist collection which drew inspiration from the experiences West had when they confronted the East Asia. I really loved the construction and simplicity of the white ensemble, the way pattern of that garment is cut and sewn looks great. Another favourite was the red print kurta which had been adorned with various embellishments, all of it had good luxury pret potential. There were some great individual pieces but I left them out as they don’t go well as total looks for me.

There were a few one hit wonders as well like: the finale black and burnt orange ensemble by Sonia Azhar, the embroidered pastel nude kameez with blue dupatta by Zara Shahjahan, and the navy blue pants and tunic with sheer top by Asifa & Nabeel. I find three of them noteworthy.

You might perceive I have forgot some but the case is, I have left some out because I either didn’t find anything palatable in their collections or I would be including them in a misses post which includes both mediocre madness and some gross gimmicks.